March 2, 2010

• A return to your regularly scheduled programming

  Thanks to everyone who viewed and or commented on the post about my friends death. As long as his memory lives on, a part of him will always be with all his friends and family, and that’s the only immortality any of us really need. One nice thing is the act of remembering him helped bring me back to xanga after what has felt like too long a hiatus. So let us now resume your regular musings, thoughts, complaints, and inappropriate comics.

  Given the state of medicine today, and all its gagdets and electronics, doesn’t the idea of a rectal exam seem a bit low tech? When I was a young lad, I heard the term digital rectal exam and thought it was something like a digital watch…you sit on some machine and a printout is ready to tell you if you have butt disease.

  Who was the first guy to think of performing it. Like way back in ancient times someone looked at a sick person and thought to themselves…I bet if I stick a finger up his butt, I can figure out whats wrong with him!

  In other news, while I love being back on wards, I really dislike social admits. They usually go something like this
  
  marriedtothesea.com

  It can get very frustrating when families have unrealistic expectations. Some people do not get better, some people can only be stabilized and returned to their daily life. And yet there seems to be an unspoken…heck often even a spoken expectation that not only will we as doctors return the person to normal, but to what they were in their youth. Fix them up to make them better stronger faster, etc. And I am sorry for the forthcoming cynicism, but as long as we continue in this culture of not taking responsibility for our own health and actions, medicine will really only serve for the most part to keep people alive who should have died long ago.

  I realize the above is not an entirely fair statement, but in many cases it’s all too accurate. And somehow I have turned depressing again. bleh. oh well next entry I’ll try again to share some happier stories.

  • 9:38 pm
  • 4 Comments